Bonds
by Katsuko1978
Summary: Some things are much more important than an unending, unnecessary war. AU for G1.


**Disclaimer:** TFA © Hasbro  
**Warnings:** AU for G1, in far too many ways, and death.

**Notes:** Inspired by another post over on the bunny farm, this time by vox00, and a comment regarding the bunny made by kirin_saga. I don't hold myself responsibility for breaking any brains. (And really, it's all Kirin's fault anyways XD)

**Terminology: **dax – sparkling term for mech creator/caregiver;prix – sparkling term for femme creator/caregiver

* * *

The very loud noises and sounds of hurt had stopped a long time ago, but he didn't move. Prix and Dax had placed him beneath their shared recharge berth and told him to stay put until one of them came back for him, and he didn't intend to move until either his bearer or code writer told him that it was safe. He could see Prix from where he was, but she was lying very still and she looked like she was sick – why else would she be so dull a grey when she was normally a vivid red much like his own?

He gave a faint, nervous chirp and huddled further under the blankets covering him. Maybe Dax had gone to get a medic for Prix and would call him out once he returned.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"So why d'we gotta do a final sweep again?"

The dark blue seeker glanced over to see that his wing mate was, indeed, gazing towards the ground as if asking Primus for patience in dealing with his trine mate's absent-mindedness. Deciding that it was best for all involved if he stepped in, Thundercracker spoke up before Starscream could: "Because it'll make us look good in the optics of the higher-ups if we do the job thoroughly. Everyone knows that Megatron's looking for a new air commander and, with him, a new command trine. If we prove that we can handle minor jobs like this one to perfection, then that puts us in his sights and on the fast track to promotions."

"Like I've already told you five times," Starscream muttered quietly, pushing open the door to one of the few standing shelters. Even if it hadn't fallen, there were clear signs that damage had been done. The greyed-out form of a small mech was sprawled in the entryway, a support beam lodged in his back that had probably been the cause of deactivation. "Got one casualty out in front, mech, looks to be of the minibot frame set."

"This place is too large for a single mini," Thundercracker remarked, following his trine mate into the shelter. "Let's check to see if there's a second or even third body."

The trine moved quietly through the rooms, not really comfortable being in a dwelling of the offlined but determined to complete their task. They'd only been part of the Decepticon army for a short while, having taken some additional time for Starscream to recover fully from an incident that had left him emotionally fragile for nearly a vorn. Once it became obvious that Vos was getting involved in the cause, they had ignored any lingering doubts and joined up. Thundercracker still felt that some methods being used were bordering on terrorism, but was willing to stay the course; if they did manage to become the command trine then it was possible to have a voice in how things were being run.

"Second casualty in the recharge chambers," Skywarp called out, pulling the blue seeker from his thoughts. "Femme, also from the minibot set."

"Nothing else in the rest of the dwelling," Starscream reported, dusting his hands off and stepping over to the grey form on the ground. He crouched down beside the offlined femme, carefully brushing the debris away to reveal several jagged holes riddling her frame. "It almost looks like she was outside when the final blast went off and made her way back inside from some reason," he said, a note of confusion in his voice.

"Why would someone that heavily damaged drag themselves inside?" Skywarp asked, looking around the room. "There's nothing in here worth offlining for."

Thundercracker sighed as he likewise glanced around the room, pausing as he noticed something that looked oddly out of place. The seeker walked over to a small table that had been knocked onto its side and knelt down, picking up the object that had caught his attention.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

He curled up tightly as the tall strangers walked into the room, speaking quietly and using phrases he didn't completely understand. Adult speech didn't make sense to him, but one of the strangers moved to Prix and began to do something; maybe he was the medic that Dax had brought back? But where was Dax then? Why wasn't he coming to get him?

The blue-coloured stranger moved over to the table that had fallen over while it had been so noisy earlier, but he didn't pick it up. Instead, the stranger picked up the story datapad that Prix had been reading to him before evening recharge. Maybe Dax had asked the stranger to get it so that they would be able to take it to the med center with them. Prix didn't look too good and the possibly-a-medic seemed to be at a loss.

The strangers were talking again, the dark one by the door sounding shocked and uneasy while the one sitting by Prix was oddly quiet. The other two started to raise their voices and he bit back a frightened whimper, only to let out a faintly confused chirp.

The quiet one had started humming.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Thundercracker stared at the datapad he'd picked up, still not quite sure he was interpreting the situation correctly. A sparkling's story datapad in a bombed-out shelter, with no other indications of a youngling, left him feeling numb. A seeker's core programming demanded that they keep sparklings safe from harm, yet all signs pointed to the possibility that they'd inadvertently offlined one.

"Just... just 'cuz there's a story pad doesn't mean that there was a sparkling here," Skywarp stammered, leaning on the wall in shock; Starscream was staring silently before letting his optics sweep the room, looking for something they might have missed in their initial once-over of the room. "I mean, it's possible that they got the scraplet out way before we showed up, yeah?"

"How?" Thundercracker snapped, circuits tense and the protection programming flaring to life. "This was a surprise attack, Warp! How the pit was anyone supposed to get out ahead of time?"

"In case you missed it, TC, we're at war!" Skywarp screeched back, wings bristling as his own programming kicked in. "Sparklings are gonna get hurt and unless we desert the fragging army we're probably gonna be responsible for some of it! I don't like it anymore than you do!"

"Then maybe we _should_ desert!"

Skywarp opened his mouth to snap another reply, only to fall silent when Starscream – who had been silent the entire time – held up one blue hand. With the renewed silence, both the older seekers could clearly hear the faint, subsonic humming of their trine mate's vocalizer and a quiet chirr of confusion. The youngest of the trine continued to hum softly, standing slowly and moving towards the recharge berth before kneeling once more. Another chirp sounded out, and this time both Skywarp and Thundercracker could tell that it was coming from beneath a pile of blankets shoved under the berth. Relief flooded Thundercracker's systems and he added his own soft vocalizations to Starscream's. A moment later Skywarp's hums joined those of his trine.

A series of chirps and clicks came from beneath the blankets, prompting Starscream to carefully reach out and move them aside before reaching into the pile. The white and red seeker pulled his hands from beneath the berth carefully and stood in a smooth motion, still humming faintly to the small sparkling he held against his chassis. Skywarp stepped closer and rebooted his optics. The sparkling could barely be seen behind his trine mate's hands, and Starscream was relatively small for a seeker; all the darker mech could make out of the scraplet was a splash of red plating against Starscream's blue hands.

"It's _tiny_," the older seeker remarked finally, reaching out to run a purple finger along the delicate helm; the sparkling chirred in response and reached up to grab the digit with his own tiny black fingers. "I knew minis were a lot smaller than other frame sets, but this..."

"You could probably carry him around in your cockpit and no one would ever know he was there, Star," Thundercracker added, a note of amusement in his voice. The sight of his youngest holding a sparkling was something he had given up hopes of ever seeing; the war was still relatively young and the chance of one of the trine offlining was very real. Add in that Starscream rarely showed affection towards anyone – even his dearly loved wing mates – and the opportunity to spark offspring would be a long time in coming. Yet at the moment the smallest member of the trine looked incredibly natural with a tiny sparkling nestled comfortably against his vents.

Starscream bit at his lip nervously before locking gazes with his trine mates. "We can't take him back to base," he insisted. "He wouldn't last for half a joor there."

"Well, we sure as slag can't leave him here," Skywarp retorted, grinning warmly at the sparkling that was still holding his finger. "Poor little guy's too young to fend for himself."

"Then maybe we really should desert," Thundercracker said, watching his wing mates carefully to gauge their reactions. While many in the army thought that Starscream was their trine leader because he flew point, the truth of the matter was that Thundercracker was their center; he was the eldest and most knowledgeable, and had felt that they would fly truest if their fastest flyer took point. Starscream never minded the mild deception, always silently confirming any course of action with his trine leader before taking it.

And what truly made Thundercracker a good trine leader was that he listened to his wing mates' opinions before making a decision.

"There are a few neutral encampments in the region," Skywarp said slowly. "We can probably hide out there for a few cycles before needing to move on."

"I know there's a cell in Praxus," Starscream added. "Since the city fell, no one bothers those left behind. It's not Vos, but it's the closest we can get to home."

Thundercracker allowed himself a small smile – his trine approved of the choice, and that made desertion that much easier. He subspaced the datapad, deciding that it would be best to take something familiar to the little one with them. "We should get going, then," he said as he pulled two blankets from beneath the berth and draped one reverently over the femme's frame. "We're due to report back in less than a joor and it won't be long after that before they realize we're missing."

As one body the trine and their foundling headed for the exit, Thundercracker only stopped to drape the last blanket over the offlined mech before they left the dwelling. The minibot sparkling chirred questioningly and looked at the seeker holding him with confused blue optics.

"Prix?" he asked, childish confusion and worry colouring his tone. "Dax?"

Starscream gently stroked the mechling's head and chirped back at him. "They... can't come with us, little one. They had another journey to take."

"Until you can join them, we'll be looking after you," Skywarp added, knowing that it would be difficult to explain deactivation to one as young as this sparkling. "I'm Skywarp, this is Starscream, and that's Thundercracker," he added as his trine leader joined them.

The sparkling looked from one to the other, his young processor inputting the names to memory (_Warp, Star, Thunder_ were the variations he remembered immediately) before he chirred in acceptance. "I's Ciffjummer," he said, mangling his designation but still too young to really pronounce it properly.

Luckily, Thundercracker had helped to raise several younger siblings and was acquainted with sparkling mispronunciations. "Cliffjumper, hm?" he repeated, grinning as the little mech nodded and chirped enthusiastically. "I promise we'll take good care of you for your creators until you can see them again."

* * *

**Edited 6/7/2010: Added section breaks back in that were somehow deleted from the original file.**


End file.
